﻿This question may be applicable again today--can an able-bodied man (or woman) find a job and make a living with work he finds in today's economic environment? The question, out of context, does not imply how to correct the problem.

Can the labouring man in this England of ours, who is willing to labour, find work, and subsistence by his work?

Chartism was a movement that wanted to give more political power to the ordinary working person in England in the 1830s and '40s. This line of Carlyle's is arguing that the common people in England cannot make enough money to support themselves. He is claiming (with this rhetorical question) that there is not enough work and not enough well-paid work for people who want it.

Carlyle is implying that Chartism can solve this problem. He is saying that if the common people have power, these sorts of problems will vanish. This is a little hard to believe since governments are not typically able to control the health of their economies.